Picture a Rock Being Dropped into Water

Recently at a recruiting event, an eleven year old boy strolled up to the Beyond booth with a look of curiosity in his eye. I came up to him, shook his hand, and introduced myself.

He told me his name was Wyatt, and I began to ask him more about himself, as I would with anyone who comes to the booth. I could see that he loved how I was not treating him like a kid, but was actually listening to and interacting with him.

“So what brings you to Mission Connexion?” I asked him.
“Well,” he said, “I am here with my mom who is looking to learn more about different missions organizations. So tell me more about Beyond.”

Wyatt knew how to carry a conversation better than half the people who I meet at conferences. . .. And he seemed genuinely interested! So I told him a little bit about what Beyond does, and made sure to speak in a way that he could understand. He looked excited and intrigued by what Beyond is all about, so I pointed him to something I thought might excite him even more . . .. Stickers! I showed him the stickers we give out with our logo, and at first he didn’t quite understand what it meant.

I explained how our logo looks like a B for Beyond, but I also gave him a little illustration to help him get it: “Picture what it looks like when you drop a rock in the water. You drop it in and it makes a splash, but then the ripples move out from that spot and grow bigger and bigger. That is what Beyond is all about. We send missionaries to make a big impact by sharing Jesus with people who will then go and share it with others who go and share. We call those ripples a “movement. Those loops on the logo show how God is using ordinary people to spread the good news about Jesus to everyone they know!”

Wyatt thought that was awesome, and he snagged a sticker as he headed out. About an hour later, I looked up and saw him walking up with his mom! He whispered something to her and I quickly walked up to introduce myself. I explained to his mom that I had gotten to speak with her son earlier, and so she asked me what our organization does.

“Well,” I said, “I told Wyatt all about it. I think he should explain it to you!” Though I was half joking, the woman turned to her young son and waited expectantly. And then something amazing happened: Wyatt began telling his mom all about Beyond! As he spoke, he reached into his backpack, pulled out his water bottle, and pointed to his new, shiny sticker.

“Picture a rock being dropped in the water . . .” he said as he looked proudly up to me and then his mother. My heart melted. Wyatt went on to tell his mom what Beyond does by simply remembering the significance of a sticker. What a beautiful image of the work that we do.

Beyond makes disciples who make disciples, and plants churches that plant churches. But what I’ve started to realize is that even recruiting at Beyond is a reproducible task. When I cast vision to people about what the Lord is doing through church planting movements, my goal is not just to inform them about a topic. I hope to equip them to go and share that vision with others, who will then go and do likewise.

Reproducible recruiting. All this I learned from an 11-year-old with a sticker and a desire to learn.